User Manual ASeries A0 MultiPort Converter Serial & Parallel Parallel The interfacing specialists
Version 1.00 March 1999 COPYRIGHTS All rights reserved. This document may not, in whole or part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form without the express permission in writing from Alfatron Pty Ltd. Copyright 1999 Alfatron Pty Ltd DISCLAIMER Alfatron Pty Ltd has made every attempt to ensure that the information contained in this document is accurate and complete. Alfatron Pty Ltd makes no representation or warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. Alfatron Pty Ltd reserves the right to make changes to this document at any time, without notice. Therefore, Alfatron Pty Ltd assumes no liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly from errors, omissions or discrepancies with the hardware and the manual. TRADEMARKS All Company and Product names are trademarks of the Company or Manufacturer respectively. WARRANTY Alfatron warrants its products against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one year from receipt by the customer. All warranty is carried out on a return to depot basis unless an alternative warranty coverage has been arranged. WARRANTY EXCLUSIONS The above warranty shall not apply to defects resulting from improper or inadequate maintenance by the customer, unauthorised modifications or misues, operation outside the environmental specifications for the product, damage due to power surges, lightening strikes or any other phenomenon outside normal operational specifications. Alfatron Pty Ltd ACN: 00 10 19 P.O. Box 11 Unit 9/ New St. Ringwood VIC 1 AUSTRALIA www.alfatron.com.au
1.0 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION The ASeries A0 MultiPort provides both Serial and Parallel connection to a printer with only a parallel port. Switching between the two input ports is fully automatic on a first come first served basis. While one port is active the other will return a 'presently busy' signal to the host computer. Parallel Output External Power Adapter Socket INPUT Serial Port Auto-Sharing MultiPort INPUT Parallel Port LEDs Error Power LEDs (see diagram) DIP Switches (Side) 2.0 INSTALLATION Figure 1 - A0 MultiPort Layout Before installing the A0 MultiPort, please make sure that the DIP Switches are set correctly to meet your serial port requirements. Please refer to Section for complete details of the DIP Switch Settings. Once the DIP Switches are set the A0 may be plugged directly into the parallel connector of the printer. It is connected to the parallel port of the printer and takes its power from this port, if available from pin 1, otherwise a seperate power adaptor may be used. Turn the printer ON and observe the LEDs on the A0 MultiPort. The Power, LED should light up and remain alight. The '', '' and 'Error' LEDs should light up and then extinguish within 2 seconds. After this sequence the unit is ready for operation. Power the printer OFF and connect the correct cables between the A0 MultiPort and the host devices. Use only cables which you know to have the correct pin configurations to match the A0 to your equipment. Cable requirements are discussed in Sections and. NOTE: All devices must be powered OFF before connecting cables to them. 1
.0 CHARACTER GENERATION FUNCTION (SELF TEST) The A0 MultiPort has a built-in Self Test Mode which will output a continuous stream of printable ASCII characters to a printer. This function may be used to self test the A0 MultiPort or to test the operation of other devices and is activated in the following manner: Step 1: Step 2: Take note of the original DIP Switch settings on the A0 MultiPort and then turn the printer OFF. Select Self Test mode by setting the DIP Switch as follows: DIP Switch Number Setting On On Off Step : Turn the printer ON. the output produced by the Self Test function is as follows: This output will continue as long as the printer is powered ON. Data will also be output from the Serial port even though it is used as an 'Input' during normal operation.to stop the output simply turn the printer OFF. Step : With the printer turned OFF, the A0 DIP Switches should be returned to their original settings for normal use. 2
.0 HAWARE CONFIGURATION.1 Setting the DIP Switch Before attempting to change DIP Switch settings, disconnect the A0 from its power source. The DIP switches are only read when the A0 is powered on. They are located beside the LEDs as shown in Section 1, Figure 1..2 Default Factory Settings The A0 has its DIP settings and Internal Jumpers factory pre-set to the following configuration: DIP Switch Settings Timeout of 10 seconds 900 bits per second Data Bits No Parity DTR/DSR Handshaking 1 Stop Bit Internal Jumper Settings Serial Port set to RS-22 Serial Port set to DTE. TIMEOUT Settings The Timeout is used to tell the A0 how long to wait for data from one port before switching to the other port. A Timeout of 10 seconds is recommended for most applications and 20 seconds is recommended for CAD, Windows and programs which tend to periodically pause during printing.. Flow Control - Robust Xon/Xoff The A0 uses the Robust Xon/Xoff form of Software Handshaking on the input RS-22 Serial Port. This is implemented to prevent Xon/Xoff 'lockup' situations. The behaviour of the Xon/Xoff flow control buffer is as follows: Xoff is issued when there are bytes remaining in the buffer. Xon is issued if there are more than bytes available in the buffer. Robust Xon time interval is seconds.
. DIP Switch Settings Switch Function OFF ON 1 Timeout 20 sec 10 sec 2 Handshaking DTR/DSR Robust Xon/Xoff Table -1 Bits Per Second (refer to Table -2) Data Bits, Parity & Test Mode (refer to Table -) Switch 00 00 1200 200 00 900 19.2K.K Table -2 Off On Off On Off On Off On Off Off On On Off Off On On Off Off Off Off On On On On Table - Switch Data Bits Parity Stop Bits Self Test On On On Even 1 No On On Off None 1 Yes On Off On Odd 1 No On Off Off None 1 No Off On On Even 1 No Off On Off None 2 Yes Off Off On Odd 1 No Off Off Off None 2 No
. Internal Jumper Settings The internal jumpers are inside the A0 and are accessed by removing the single screw holding the lid. They are located on the Printed Circuit Board directly behind the serial connector...1 Serial RS-22 as DTE (Factory Default) To set the A0 to Serial RS-22 and DTE use the following settings: Internal Jumper Settings Serial Port set to RS-22 Serial Port set to DTE..2 Serial RS-22 as DCE To set the A0 to Serial RS-22 and DCE use the following settings: Internal Jumper Settings Serial Port set to RS-22 Serial Port set to DCE.. Serial RS-22 as DTE To set the A0 to Serial RS-22 use the following settings: Internal Jumper Settings Serial Port set to RS-22 Note: RS-22 can only be used with Software handshaking (Xon/Xoff). The 'DCE-DTE' jumpers have no effect when RS-22 is selected.
.0 POWER REQUIREMENTS.1 Powered from the printer The A0 is normally powered from pin 1 of the parallel connector of the printer and requires only 10mA to operate. Some printers use a limiting resistor on pin 1 which may not provide enough power to operate the A0. In this case the optional power adapter socket must be used to provide external power..2 External Power Adapter The A0 may be powered from an external power adaptor which must provide a 9VDC power supply with a minimum current of 200mA. The plug must have an inner diameter of 2.mm and an outer diameter of.mm and must be wired for outer negative..0 CABLE REQUIREMENTS Alfatron recommends the use of shielded cable with all of its products. Shielding reduces EMI radiation and improves noise immunity. This helps minimise interference to other equipment and will improve communications reliability. The recommended cable construction is as follows: Take the shield (surrounding cable wires) and solder it to the Frame Ground (FG) pin. If FG is not available use Signal Ground, but in this case always use a separate wire to connect Signal Ground at both ends. The shield must be connected at both ends of the cable..0 CABLE EXAMPLES.1 RS-22 Connection to other RS-22 Devices A0 Cable End (DB-2 Male) FG 1 + 2-19 + 1-1 Shield FG + - + - User Device Cable End
.2 RS-22 Connection to a PC with a DB-2 Serial Connector Shield A0 Cable End DTE (DB-2 Male) FG RTS CTS DSR DCD DTR 1 2 20 1 2 20 FG CTS RTS DTR DCD DSR PC Cable End DTE (DB-2 Female). RS-22 Connection to a PC with a DB-9 Serial Connector Shield A0 Cable End DCE (DB-2 Male) CTS RTS DTR DCD DSR 2 20 2 1 RTS CTS DSR DCD DTR PC Cable End (DB-9 Female). RS-22 Connection to other RS-22 Devices Shield A0 Cable End DTE (DB-2 Male) FG RTS CTS DSR DCD DTR 1 2 20 FG CTS RTS DTR DCD DSR User Device Cable End
.0 PORT PINOUTS.1 Centronics Parallel Ports Pin Signal Input Output Pin Signal Input Output 1 Data Strobe Input Output 19 Ground - - 2 Data Bit 1 Input Output 20 Ground - - Data Bit 2 Input Output 21 Ground - - Data Bit Input Output 22 Ground - - Data Bit Input Output 2 Ground - - Data Bit Input Output 2 Ground - - Data Bit Input Output 2 Ground - - Data Bit Input Output 2 Ground - - 9 Data Bit Input Output 2 Ground - - 10 Acknowledge Output Input 2 Ground - - 11 Busy Output Input 29 Ground - - 12 Paper Error Output Input 0 Ground - - 1 Select Output Input 1 Initialize Input Output 1 Autofeed Input Output 2 Error Output Input 1 Not Connected - - Ground - - 1 Ground - - Not Connected - - 1 Ground - - Connected Pulled High 1 Connected Pulled High +V Select In - -.2 RS-22 and RS-22 Serial Ports The RS-22 Serial Port of the A0 MultiPort may be configuired as either DTE or DCE by setting the internal jumpers J1, J2, J and J. RS-22 RS-22 Pin Status DCE DTE 1 Frame Ground FG FG FG 2 Data Input/Output - Data Input/Output - Not used - Pulled High CTS RTS - Not used - Pulled High RTS CTS - Handshake Input/Output DTR DSR - Signal Ground Not used - Pulled High DCD DCD - 1 Data Input - - - 1 Data Input - - + 19 Data Output - - - 20 Handshake Input/Output DSR DTR - 2 Data Output - - + Note: 1. Maximum baud rate of,00bps applies to RS-22 and RS-22. 2. RS-22 suitable for operation with software handshake only.
9.0 SPECIFICATIONS CPU: Parallel Ports: Serial Ports: Flow Control Buffer: LED Indicators: 9C1 Microprocessor 1.MHz Centronics Parallel Input - -pin Centronics female connector Output - -pin Centronics male connector Asynchronous RS-22 and RS-22 Full duplex communication DB-2 female connector DTE / DCE Selectable (RS-22 Only) DIP Switch Selection: Baud Rate: 00, 19200, 900, 00 (bps) 200, 1200, 00 and 00. Data Bits: or Parity: None, Odd or Even Stop Bits: 1 or 2 Handshaking: byte receive buffer Power On (Yellow) Data Error (Red) Transmit Data (Green) Receive Data (Green) Software (Robust Xon/Xoff) Hardware (DTR/DSR) (RS-22 Only) Power Supply: VDC from printer parallel connector - Pin 1 Current consumption - Standby: 110mA Operating: 10mA Optional 9VDC 200mA Power Adapter.mm outer/2.mm inner diameter Polarity is Outer Negative Dimensions: Weight: Operating Temp: Stroage Temp: 11mm x 2mm x 2mm grams 0 to 0 C -20 to 0 C All specifications subject to change without notice 9
N2 DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY according to the European Commissions EMC Directive 9//EEC We, Name of Manufacturer: ALFATRON PTY. L of, Address of Manufacturer: UNIT 9, NEW ST. RINGWOOD VIC 1 AUSTRALIA Australian Company Number: ACN: 00 10 19 declare under sole responsibility that the product: Product Name: Model Number: ASeries MultiPort Serial & Parallel to Parallel Interface Converter A0 to which this declaration relates is in conformity with the following standards: CISPR-22 / EN 022 class B IEC 01-2 / pren02-2 IEC 01- / pren02- IEC 01- / pren02- EMI from Information Technology Equipment (ITE) Electro Static Discharge Immunity Radiated RF Immunity Electrical Fast Transients Immunity